Fortune teller in the Ginza, early evening

natasha nakamura's diary

Last night before meeting with Hugo for dinner at our favorite sushi place at Mitsukoshi in the Ginza, I had a chance to roam the Ginza's back streets.

I noticed that a fleet of taxis  began to pull up to the curb, dozens of taxi like a swarm of bees, crowding out other traffic, and their doors swinging open and out of each taxi lightly stepping a beautiful woman, dressed with quiet taste, with her hair and makeup seemingly done professionally. So beautiful, so poised, so confident.

Then it came to me: these were the ladies who when invited would come to sit at your table in the expensive clubs on every floor of certain buildings in the Ginza. To view them on their way to work is one of the great sights of this city much more glamorous than the early morning fish auction at Tsukiji market, say, and at a much more convenient time of day. I wonder when the tourists will begin to line the sidewalks to take in this elegant scene…